Tulips for Zephyr
by singingtothewind
Summary: Drabble/one-shot. It takes place right after TLO. Thalia has a few moments to herself, and reflects on...Luke. But soon, she realizes that she never said her final goodbye to him. Thuke. Rated K plus.


**Hey everyone. I was bored, so I wrote a little Thuke one-shot. I hope you enjoy! =) Btw, Zephyr is the Greek god of the west wind. **

Thalia took one last sip of her Pepsi before she sat down on the wooden bench. She put the silver goblet down on the floor beneath her feet, and then took a deep breath. Ah, peace and quiet; just what she needed.

Thalia inhaled the flower-scented air of the veranda. She heard echoes from the days-long party that was going on all around Mount Olympus, and the screech of car tires and the honks of car horns six hundred stories below in Manhattan. The daughter of Zeus shut her eyes.

_He died, just as the prophecy said._ Annabeth had told her. _But he died a hero._

_He was a _traitor_, Annabeth_, Thalia had retorted.

_Well, _yes_, but…that was what the Fates gave him. It was his destiny, Thalia. There's no changing that_.

Thalia frowned. The conversation had happened hours ago, but Annabeth's words were still swimming around in her head. Maybe Luke was a hero…or at least he had _died_ a hero. For the past four years, he had been nothing but a lying, sleazy, deceitful, inhumane traitor, which Thalia would never let herself forget. Luke had betrayed her, Annabeth, Grover, Chiron, everyone at camp, and the gods. She just couldn't forget that.

But that had been his destiny. That was what the Three Fates had set upon him. That was what the Oracle had foretold. Luke couldn't change his destiny, nor stop it. He had to live it.

But Thalia still couldn't help but be angry at him for his treachery, even though he was _dead_. She knew, deep down, that she had to let it go. She knew she had to forgive him. But she couldn't. Even though Luke had killed himself to stop Kronos, as Annabeth had said, her mind still could not be changed.

But then she thought of Luke, the Luke Thalia had known seven years ago. The Luke that could fight any monster, the Luke that had been her friend, the Luke that was mischievous and funny, the Luke that was loving and caring.

Thalia sighed. She opened her eyes, and scanned the surrounding area; a bench, flowers, a tall oak tree, a bronze brazier, a birdbath, stone cobbles under her feet, and the low wall behind her.

And suddenly, she got an idea. One that would help her, one that wouldn't; but an idea nonetheless. An idea that related to Luke Castellan.

She stood, being careful not to trip on her goblet, and walked towards something that looked like a stone birdbath, but instead was filled with dirt and had flowers growing inside it. Thalia scanned each flower in turn. Her eyes stopped on two white tulips, almost glowing in the setting sun. They looked almost perfectly crafted by a skilled hand to make the two most beautiful flowers Thalia had ever seen. They looked as if they had been planted by Demeter herself.

Carefully, she picked the two white tulips from the dirt. She dusted off the long, thin stem and the firm little leaves. She inhaled the scent; they smelled almost like the perfume her mother used to wear; but better.

Thalia turned away from the birdbath and walked to the edge of the wall. She looked down. The cars looked like small race cars, and the people looked like little ants searching for food for their colony. Even the skyscrapers looked a little childish from this height.

The daughter of Zeus switched her gaze to the tulips in her hands. Smiling, she began plucking off each petal carefully, making sure not to rip or crunch them. Soon, she had over ten petals in her hands.

She walked away from the wall towards the wooden bench, and set the stems down on the arm. Thalia pushed it against the wall with her knees. She climbed on top of the bench until she was standing, looking down at an ever farther Manhattan. A summer breeze blew through her hair.

Thalia looked down at the petals in her hands. She closed her eyes, remembering the time when she and Luke had visited a public garden in Delaware. Luke had plucked up two white tulips, similar to the ones she was now holding. But those ones hadn't been as grand.

_Look at them! _

Amazing_, Luke._

_They're pretty. Like, like…like you. _

_Very funny, Luke. _

_No really, Thalia. You are._

_Nice, Luke. You almost sounded serious._

_I was being serious._

Thalia looked up. She could imagine Luke standing there in front of her, smiling. She could imagine him waiting for her to say something.

"Hello, Luke." He would've grinned, and said hello back, along with adding in a joke or two.

"I...I'm sorry I pushed you off that cliff." Her heart sunk as she remembered the memory. She imagined him nodding, as if saying, _It's okay_.

"I'm sorry we couldn't have more time together." Thalia swallowed. Luke would just nod again, and say it was okay.

"I'm sorry for being angry at you for a year, then trying to forget you the next." He would just make a joke about that.

"I'm sorry for cursing the gods with you. That didn't seem to have helped you much." She shut her eyes. He probably would've averted his blue eyes at that point.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there when you died, Luke." She leaned forward over the edge of the wall a bit more. She could imagine Luke's smile fading.

Thalia opened her eyes. "And I'm sorry I don't love you anymore, Luke." He would have no smile on his face now. But his eyes would be kind, as if telling her, _I understand. I deserve it, anyway._

Then, focusing her eyes on the petals, she opened her hands. The petals flew out beneath them, some flying around briefly, others going straight down to the streets of Manhattan. But not one flew back over the edge.

The wind ruffled her hair again. Thalia watched as each one sank lower and lower, white specks in the air. As soon as she couldn't make out the petals anymore, she looked up. She could imagine Luke still standing their, waiting for her to say one more thing. She imagined that he knew, without her even uttering a word, what it was. It wasn't a very hard thing to figure out.

"So long, Luke. I'm gonna miss you; after all, you _were_ my best friend." Thalia imagined Luke laughing, then saying goodbye. Then, he would make a joke, and after that, take one last look at her. And then he would walk away. She smiled.

Her last gift to Luke was given; a final goodbye. Thalia Grace felt satisfied.

The shard in her chest, the one that had been there ever since she found out Luke had gone over to the Titans, left her. No longer was she angry at his betrayal, nor was she indifferent towards him. She finally understood that his fate was his fate, and there was no changing it. Annabeth had been right, and it was about time she let it go. Even Percy, who had loathed Luke's guts, had forgiven him. She was ready to accept what had happened, and was ready to let the past go. Thalia was ready to move on.

And it was all because of two white tulips.

She climbed down from the bench, and sighed. Thalia shut her eyes one more time, letting what she had just done sink in and have it accepted. Slowly, she opened her electric blue eyes.

Thalia bent down, and picked up her silver goblet. The daughter of Zeus took a last look at the sky. The wind ruffled her dark hair.

"Pepsi, please."

The goblet refilled itself, and she began walking back towards the sounds of the party.

**How was it? Good, bad? Let me know in a review :)**

**P.S.: Stay tuned. I have another Thuke story coming up ;)**


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